The Las Vegas Raiders will welcome the Chicago Bears to Allegiant Stadium for Week 4 of the 2025 NFL season. This will be the Raiders' first game in the late Sunday window of the year, as they've played twice on the East Coast and once on Monday Night Football.
Chicago is led by head coach Ben Johnson and quarterback Caleb Williams, who seem to be finding their stride just three games into their partnership. After blowing a lead in Week 1 and getting blown out in Week 2, the Bears throttled the Dallas Cowboys last week, winning 31-14.
Las Vegas, by contrast, has been trending in the wrong direction since its win on opening weekend. They'll look to right the ship against Chicago on Sunday, but Williams poses an all-too-familiar threat to the Raiders' defense, and it could spell doom for the Silver and Black.
Caleb Williams' mobility will be tough for Raiders to contain
Through three weeks, Las Vegas has given up 82 yards and a touchdown on 19 carries to opposing quarterbacks. After bottling up Drake Maye in Week 1 for just 11 yards on four carries, they gave up a combined 71 yards and a touchdown on 15 carries against Justin Herbert and Marcus Mariota.
Williams has excelled in scrambling situations and has racked up 97 rushing yards and a touchdown on just 16 carries this season, which is nearly 6.1 yards per rush. His mobility could easily cause another headache for Patrick Graham and Co. in Week 4.
Another issue for the Raiders has not just been giving up rushing yards, but failing to bring down quarterbacks for sacks. These plays can flip drives on their heads or have a compounding effect on a quarterback, but Las Vegas has not been able to get it done despite immense talent.
The Raiders have recorded just seven sacks this season, which is slightly below the middle of the pack, tied for 17th-best in the NFL. The Bears, by contrast, have only allowed six sacks, which is the 12th-best in the league.
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To make matters worse, the team's defensive pressure has tapered off over the last three weeks. They went from 27 pressures in Week 1 to just 11 and seven in the last two games. They had four sacks on opening weekend, but just three total in the two weeks since.
By contrast, the Bears gave up 41 pressures and six sacks in the first two weeks combined, but they only gave up nine total pressures and zero sacks in Week 3, so their group is definitely trending in the right direction.
Earlier in the week, Williams acknowledged that the Bears are actively game-planning to keep Maxx Crosby in check. That should allow several other Raiders pass-rushers to have more open lanes to get after the second-year quarterback, if they can contain him and get him on the ground.
Veteran defender Jamal Adams believes that if the team just does its job on Sunday, it should be able to limit Williams' mobility from taking a toll on the Raiders' defense. But that is far easier said than done.